Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

There's a little cactus in this photo because I've recently learned that pro tip #4,203 to being a proper millennial human who wants to appear somewhat trendy is to always have miniature succulents and cacti just casually sitting around your home. You can put them on shelves and on coffee tables and night stands or, as seen here, just straight up next to your bowl of quinoa, just make sure the prickly little friends end up on your Instagram feed at some point. Look at all the good I do.

But on a serious note if you're in the New Orleans area, Harold's Plants on St. Claude is having a blow out sale of cacti and succulents and ya girl (me) went fully crazy with it. They're my favorite little plants because they're so teeny tiny and kind of hard to kill but also make such a statement. In fact, if I had to compare my emotional state to any one plant it would probably be one of them teeny tiny little cacti with the big spikes that has a little red flower in full bloom on its head.

Maybe this post is more than what you bargained for. Quinoa? Quinoa! Besides being Matt's and my designated second child name (first child will simply be named "Nacho Supreme"), it's also one of our favorite feel good health foods. I'm sure you know all about your quinoa but if not, the TL;DR is that it's hearty and earthy and cozy with a slight textural bite and it's truly very delicious.

One of my favorite things about quinoa (the food, not our future child #2), is that it so easily works as a savory accomplice to salads and fish and all that good stuff, while also being a great base for sweeter delicious breakfasty style bowls. You can eat it warm or cold or somewhere in between, and below we've cooked it in some almond milk and baking spices and let it cool down before stirring in peanut butter and walnuts and fruit and chocolate(!!!) and then we stuck it all in these little ceramic dove bowls because we're gay and then stuck a cactus next to it because how cute! You can find the full recipe below, sweeties!

QUINOA BREAKY BOWLS

prep time: 5 min // cook time: 30 min // serves: 3 - 4

2 cups almond milk

1 pinch ground cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup quinoa

1/3 cup maple syrup

toppings

1 - 2 bananas, sliced

5 - 6 strawberries, sliced

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Dark chocolate chunks

1/3 cup nut butter

Walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil. Add in the quinoa and give a good stir. Return to a boil before covering and reducing the heat to low. Let cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered for an additional 10 minutes.

Place into your serving bowls and give a drizzle of maple syrup before topping with your desired delicious breakfasty toppings! Enjoy!